Emo Philips

Emo Philips
Emo Philips in 2002.
Born	February 7, 1956 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Medium	Stand-up
Nationality	American
Genres	Black comedy, Surreal humor, wit, word play
Website	emophilips.com

Emo Philips (born Phil Soltanek; February 7, 1956) is an American comedian. Much of his stand-up comedy makes the use of paraprosdokians spoken in a wandering falsetto tone of voice. The confused, childlike delivery of his material produces the intended comic timing in a manner invoking the 'wisdom of children' or the idiot savant.

Career

Philips has recorded three comedy albums. His album E=mo², recorded live at Caroline's in New York City, won the 1985 New Music Award for best comedy album. It was later re-released along with his Live at the Hasty Pudding Theatre album on a single CD. He also released an album called Emo in 2001. A joke of his was voted funniest religious joke ever in a 2005 online poll.^[1] In 2006, he appeared at the Newbury Comedy Festival. He was included in the top 50 of E4's 100 Greatest Comedians, and also appeared number 54 on Channel 4's top 100 greatest standups.

Aside from Philips's long career as a standup comic, he has been featured in acting roles on television series such as Miami Vice and The Weird Al Show. In 2006, he appeared on British television, as a guest on the panel game 8 Out of 10 Cats. Philips has several voiceover credits, including work on the animated series Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist; Home Movies; Space Ghost Coast to Coast; Adventure Time as Cuber the mysterious storyteller; and the voice of Dooper in the animated series Slacker Cats.^[2] Philips has also appeared on three episodes of @midnight, in February 2015, April 8 2016, and a 90's themed episode on September 26 2016.

He has appeared in feature films including 1989's UHF (as Joe Earley, a rather clumsy school shop teacher who accidentally saws his thumb off) and Desperation Boulevard in 1998. Additionally, he appeared in the original 1992 version of Meet the Parents (also executive producer) and was an associate producer of the 2000 remake.^[3]

Personal life

Philips was born in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove. Comedian Judy Tenuta, another entertainer with an offbeat comic persona, has denied rumors that Philips ever married or dated her. Tenuta said, "Isn't it weird how rumors start? No, Emo and I used to do shows together."^[4]

Discography

Cover of Philips' first album, E=mo²

E=mo² – 1985, Epic, produced by Bill Freston
No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Fine How Do-Ya-Do!"	4:35
2.	"Why Our Family is Nice"	5:32
3.	"My Childhood, Yes"	6:47
4.	"’Downtown Downers Grove’"	3:02
5.	"I’m a Great Lover, I Bet"	6:29
6.	"How to Escape Death"	4:20
7.	"Equustentialism"	3:19
8.	"A ‘Dreamy’ Dilema"	5:50
Total length:		39:51

Live at the Hasty Pudding Theatre – 1987, Epic, produced by Bob Kaminsky
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Finding the Microphone"	0:35
2.	"Duck-Billed Platitudes"	0:55
3.	"College: The Best 6 Weeks of My Life"	5:01
4.	"Poetry and Scuba Diving"	2:33
5.	"Why I am Quite Handy With the Ladies"	10:02
6.	"The Perils of Inbreeding"	1:43
7.	"Kafka-Doodle Doo"	8:03
8.	"For a Fist Full of Cole Slaw"	2:47
9.	"'Animal Square Dance'"	4:59
10.	"How Girls Can Score With Me"	2:19
Total length:		38:54

Emo – 2001, Louipimps Records, produced by Nick Nestoros
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Start of CD" (introduction by David Feldman)	0:28
2.	"Track One"	2:45
3.	"Track Two"	1:46
4.	"Track Two Continued"	2:22
5.	"Bonus Track"	5:20
6.	"Hidden Track"	3:05
7.	"Secret Track"	3:24
8.	"Wondrous Magical Enchanted Track"	2:26
9.	"From Trackland, Where a Witch Placed"	4:21
10.	"A Spell on All the Tracks, Forcing Them to Skip"	3:01
11.	"Until a Greying Yet Still Handsome Comedian"	4:14
12.	"Oh By the Way, Satan Wants You"	1:52
13.	"To Burn Copies of This CD."	3:09
14.	"Make Satan Fume!"	2:21
15.	"More Track Two I Just Found"	6:32
16.	"'Don't Put Back the Fuse'" (hidden track attached to track 15, starts at 4:17; song originally recorded 1991)
Total length:		46:56

E=mo² plus the Entire Live at the Hasty Pudding Theatre – 2003, Epic
No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Fine How Do-Ya-Do!"	4:35
2.	"Why Our Family is Nice"	5:32
3.	"My Childhood, Yes"	6:47
4.	"’Downtown Downers Grove’"	3:02
5.	"I’m a Great Lover, I Bet"	6:29
6.	"How to Escape Death"	4:20
7.	"Equustentialism"	3:19
8.	"A ‘Dreamy’ Dilema"	5:50
9.	"Finding the Microphone"	0:35
10.	"Duck-Billed Platitudes"	0:55
11.	"College: The Best 6 Weeks of My Life"	5:01
12.	"Poetry and Scuba Diving"	2:33
13.	"Why I am Quite Handy With the Ladies"	10:02
14.	"The Perils of Inbreeding"	1:43
15.	"Kafka-Doodle Doo"	8:03
16.	"For a Fist Full of Cole Slaw"	2:47
17.	"'Animal Square Dance'"	4:59
18.	"How Girls Can Score With Me"	2:19
Total length:		1:18:45

References

1. Philips, Emo (29 September 2005). "The best God joke ever - and it's mine!". The Guardian. London. Retrieved Jan 10, 2009.
2. ""Slacker Cats" Coming to ABC Family". Retrieved 2006-07-13.
3. "Emo Philips". imdb.com. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
4. Schoenkopf, Rebecca (June 15, 2000). "Love Goddess". OC Weekly. Retrieved July 17, 2016.

External links

• Emo Philips at the Internet Movie Database
• 1988 KCRW radio interview "Bob Claster's Funny Stuff" w/performance excerpts